<OT> New Posting: ROA-753 (Modified by Rutgers Optimality Archive)

[Rutgers Optimality Archive]

ROA 74653-0605

Optimal gaps in optimal paradigms

Curt Rice <curt.rice at hum.uit.no>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=753


Abstract:
This article develops a treatment of phonologically motivated gaps in 
paradigms within Optimal Paradigms theory (McCarthy 2005). The gaps are 
instances of absolute ungrammaticality, i.e. situations in which there 
is no output for a given input. In the approach developed here, gaps 
arise when phonological markedness constraints outrank constraints 
requiring the expression of a particular morphological category. In 
this way, incomplete paradigms can be selected as optimal, since the 
incomplete paradigm will incur fewer markedness violations. The optimal 
gaps approach is illustrated with Norwegian imperatives and Hungarian 
CCik verbs. The analysis is compared with earlier treatments of 
absolute ungrammaticality, such as the null parse of Prince and 
Smolensky (1993).

Comments: to appear in Catalan Journal of Linguistics, special issue on 
Morphology in phonology, ed. M.-R. Lloret and J. Jimenez
Keywords: Phonology, Optimality Theory, Optimal Paradigms, 
Ineffability, Gaps, Norwegian
Areas: Phonology, Morphology
Type: Journal Article

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=753